Originally posted by odessastepsWith all these people getting injured (Henry, Del Rio, allegedly Orton), do they put Cena in bubble wrap until Mania to make sure the match with the Rock doesn't get fubared?

Does bubble wrap actually work for that? Because my mother is a living, breathing fall hazard.

All joking aside... yikes. But then, there were too many limes around anyway, so it's nice to give Sheamus something to do.

"You can't make an omelet without ruthlessly crushing dozens of eggs beneath your steel boots and then publicly disemboweling the chickens that laid them as an example to others."--General Tarquin, The Order of the Stick

Originally posted by odessastepsWith all these people getting injured (Henry, Del Rio, allegedly Orton), do they put Cena in bubble wrap until Mania to make sure the match with the Rock doesn't get fubared?

I echoed this idea back when the match was first announced, because if injuries like Orton's, Henry's, and Del Rio's prove anything, it's that you never know what can happen on a day-to-day basis. The funny thing is, it sounds like they already are keeping Cena on a limited schedule, because he hasn't wrestled at all since the Slammy Raw and he doesn't really need to right now, because his angle with Kane can live on promos alone for the next month or so.

Cena's the only non-expendable guy on the roster right now, just because of how heavily marketed that Wrestlemania match is. Anyone else is replaceable. And that's remarkable, considering that the E is about to carry on just fine without Orton, Henry, Del Rio, Christian, and Mysterio. That's a lot of main event talent to lose.

As someone on the DVDVR said, wrestling Kane is likely one of the safest people to work with right now. You wouldn't want Cena in there with one of the young guys or even someone like Punk, who has a habit of working a little too stiff.

I still say if Cena and/or Rock is injured, WWE's backup scenario is simply to slot Undertaker into the match to keep the main event feeling epic.

Then again, knowing how durable Cena has been over the years, nothing short of a lost limb will keep him from WM.

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball

The weird part of these injuries is instead giving them time off to heal, they have had ADR and Henry at every show, almost double time for Henry. I expect the same for Orton, but if they would just give them these two weeks off for the holidays, they would have Orton ready for the Rumble.

While I'm not Orton's biggest fan, this is kind of problematic for the shows. Orton's been their workhorse for the last few months, pulling double-duty every week with long matches on RAW and Smackdown. They're going to need to slot someone else in, and I'm not sure that Sheamus is the right guy. On the other hand, I'm interested to see if Sheamus can step up, and if not, who else might get the extra TV time. Ideally, I'd like the extra time to go to more than one guy.

Originally posted by JustinShapiroIn related news Orton will return from injury and win the Royal Rumble in St. Louis, a la Shawn Michaels in 1996.

Uh like I was saying

Originally posted by ObserverAt the Smackdown house show in Detroit tonight, it was announced that Randy Orton will be out of action for six months.

goddamn. now, WWE policy is usually to exaggerate the length someone will be out so they can make a dramatic early return. but there's still every indication that this is a significant injury, and giving a figure like six months even as a misdirection seems to rule out Wrestlemania.

Sad way to end the best year of his career, especially when he was going to get to win the Rumble in his hometown. But I have to admit I'm excited to see where they go with Smackdown in the face of the Orton vacuum, having gone from Orton and Henry on top to neither in the blink of an eye. Will D-Bry get a real shot? Will Sheamus be made lead babyface? Will they move someone over?

I have to imagine that no matter how much they were teasing it, they have to abort the Big Show heel turn now. Show, Henry, Barrett, Christian, and Cody Rhodes would tip the scales heavily for the credible heels against Sheamus and Bryan. Unless they want to do something wacky like push...shrug...Ted DiBiase or something

If this means more of the smiley Great White shoved down my throat I think I am going to puke.

This is where Edge and Jericho become so valuable, because you can instantly move them from whatever they are doing and insert them as either main event heel or face without much effort. They don't really have that spot filled with anybody, but maybe it is time to see if The Miz can do it.

If the six months thing is true, Orton returning in time to challenge a dominating Corporate Heel Cena (my choice for 2012's "Raw Gets Good In June!" moment) for SummerSlam would be nice timing.

Miz would be my least favorite, but probably most likely, guy to have them throw in to replace Orton as panic Rumble winner. He's just in no condition, from a character or interest standpoint, to benefit from winning it now. Miz/Punk would be a weak WM match. Miz/Bryan would have plenty of history, but wouldn't be a great use of Bryan.

I'd love to see them take the opportunity to go with a truly left field, anyone can win kind of choice like Regal to set up Regal vs. Bryan as the opening match at Wrestlemania, but that would never happen. Big Show as the panic replacement seems like something they'd do if those other rumored WM Big Show plans don't happen, and Show/Bryan would be good if they can slow burn for that long at Bryan wins. Kane winning would also be not completely unlikely by WWE logic, though I think Kane/Bryan wouldn't make as much sense, and Kane/Punk has back story, but not one I'd care to ever think back to again.

Guys who could really benefit from a shock Rumble win: Barrett and Ziggler, but only if the company really goes all in and has them win in positive fashion.

Barrett vs. either Punk or Bryan has plenty of back story and both Punk and Bryan would be good enough to make the match work. Barrett could definitely benefit from a rebuild of putting Orton on the shelf, winning the Rumble and having a good WM showing if they really want to rehabilitate him.

Ziggler, though, could be a star if they give him one of those Rumble pushes where he lasts forever and then actually wins, and Ziggler/Punk or Ziggler/Bryan, given time, could be so good that either match could steal Wrestlemania.

Of people not around currently, there's always the chance of a Jericho return/win/Punk feud, of course. But the one I think could be most interesting (that they won't do) would be to dump Undertaker/HHH II(I) and have Undertaker return, win the Rumble and challenge Punk. Punk is good enough to sell people on the idea that he could win (he did "steal the title" at MITB, after all), and Undertaker deciding that he's sick of people using WM to come after him for so many years and looking to take something back for himself for once could make for a good Last Shot At The Title vs. Streak build-up.

Originally posted by JustinShapiroIn related news Orton will return from injury and win the Royal Rumble in St. Louis, a la Shawn Michaels in 1996.

Uh like I was saying

Uh like I was saying

Originally posted by F4WIt appears reports of Randy Orton being out of action for six months, as announced by Tony Chimmel at last night's house show in Detroit may have been premature.

WWE.com reported today that Dr. Michael Sampson of the WWE medical staff examined Orton and said he suffered a herniated disc on the L-4/L-5 level on the left side of his back, which has led to pain and weakness going down his leg.

"He's going to need some time off for rehab, anti-inflammatory medications and physical therapy."

The WWE.com story said the injury "could keep him sidelined for a few weeks," which sounds a lot more promising than six months out.

It has been confirmed Orton had been complaining of the injury for two weeks which is why his physical workload had been cut back on before the injury angle was shot on Tuesday night.

DAMN IT FAT CHIMEL THIS IS WHY NO ONE LIKES YOU

I refuse to do anymore Analysis on this but I'll go back to my original Mania expectations of:

Cena/RockUndertaker/HHH career vs. streak, Shawn Michaels as refereePunk/Jericho for the WWE titleBig Show/ShaqOrton/Henry for the World title (Orton wins Rumble, Henry gets title back)